Unkown Desires
by Asp. Anime
Summary: What if someone from the real world was put into the Death Note world, but didn't remember they had ever existed anywhere but there? What would you do if you only faintly remembered you had someone to save? Full summary inside.
1. A Shinigami

**Inspiration struck, so I'll be writing another Death Note Fan-fiction along with my first one from now on. Now, we all may have read or at least glanced at the description/story of a person from our world suddenly gets sent into the Death Note universe. In these stories, we most usually see the main character obtaining an incredible intelligence (or not) and trying to save L (or something along the 'save-a-character' lines). Well, what if someone was put into the Death Note world, but didn't remember they had ever existed anywhere but there? What would you do if you only faintly remembered you had someone to save? (A/N: any colored hair mentioned in the story is assumed to be natural unless written otherwise; meaning, no one's hair is colored, the characters were born that way. Oh, and I'll only** **continue this story if I feel other people actually like reading it. ^^ Please review if you want it to continue.)**

**Oh, and I don't own Death Note. Thank you...  
**

Tears started to collect in my eyes as I stared at my computer screen. I was re-watching the moment L died, and it still got to me. How could they kill off my favorite character?

I got off my red computer chair and started pacing the square-ish room. The computer was in the corner across from my door. There was a closet in the adjacent corner not near the door, its width being directly across from my bed. My bed was up against the other wall, the black and blood-red sheets, pillows, and blankets all arranged nicely. Everything was placed out of the way in order to leave me space to walk back in forth without banging into anything. There was a window up on the same wall as my headboard, and it looked out over the parking lot of the three-story apartment building. We lived on the top floor, so I would occasionally look down and watch people enter and leave the building. In the midst of all my pacing, I decided to stop and look out this very window. I liked just watching and waiting, not really bothering to care who it was I was watching. It was more of a day-dreaming habit. I didn't register the person, just their presence.

I sighed. All I could feel was my pained, 17 year old heart beating as it remembered that L had died. Mello and Near would then try to catch Kira, with Mello and Matt also dying in the process. It felt as though all of my favorite characters were all being picked off one by one. I used to be a Kira fan, but Light had pissed me off with the deaths of _M, M^2,_ and _L_. I was honestly ready to rip his throat out; but it was impossible considering the fact that I was not animated or in Death Note…

Oh, how I would so cherish the possibility of entering the Death Note universe. I closed my eyes and let a goofy smile take up my face. I had ordinary features: shoulder length blue hair, big brown eyes, a straight nose, and a regular mouth. Everything about me was pretty ordinary, actually. I was only slightly above 5 feet tall. I had an average weight, and usually wore black shorts and a black t-shirt. I sometimes added dark accessories, but I didn't particularly like the jingle they would make whenever I moved. My shoes were always some form of sneakers, usually of the black variety. Many people called me a Goth, but it was somewhat true. While I didn't wear black make-up, the dark color was usually the only thing I wore besides certain shades of red.

I stopped looking out the window when I heard a familiar female voice call, "Orijinaru! Dinner's ready!" My mother, Sai Kyara, had a loud voice, so it reached me even with the doors closed. My family was Japanese, but we lived in America, so I only knew how to speak American. Even so, I knew my name, Orijinaru Kyara, was quite odd when translated into English. My parents like original things, so my name was made to fit that quirk.

I went to go eat with a sad heart. I wanted to finish quickly, hoping to return to my room and mourn in privacy. My mother obliged me this and didn't make any comments during dinner. She also had blue hair, though it was darker than my sky-blue. Her face held many of the same features, though her eyes were a pale purple. I often found myself wondering if a ghost was staring at me whenever we locked eyes, but that was the cool part about her. Other than that, she was the same height as me, in her thirties, and a successful actuary for All-State Insurance. She often complained about the assholes at work, but she loved her job regardless.

I also hated the asses at her work. Many of them hit on her in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. They were completely insensitive to the fact that my father had passed away just a few months before. Kiyori Kyara, a middle-aged lawyer with a 6 foot height, midnight black hair, thin brown eyes, and an easy smile always on his face, was killed in a plane crash on his way over to Japan for a family reunion. My mother and I had barely stepped outside the house after that because we were so heart-broken. My dad had been a good man, and one that didn't deserve to die. But fate would have it otherwise since it killed him despite all of his greatness. I still felt sad whenever I thought about it, but I had moved on to the more tolerant phase in mourning.

I finished eating along with my mother and did the dishes, making sure to clean up the wet counter before returning to my room.

What I didn't expect was to see a 7 foot tall creature standing in the middle of it.

I opened my mouth to make a blood-curling scream when it placed its hand over my face and effectively took away any opportunity to do so. Its hand, as well as its other limbs, was long and thin. The entire thing seemed to be covered in some form of Indian clothing, and its face was similar to a boar's skull. There were even tusks sticking out of it. There didn't seem to be any eyes in the skull, but it was as though it was able see just fine regardless of that fact.

"Orijinaru Kyara, I have been sent by the Shinigami King to retrieve you by any means necessary. I am Inoshishi, one of the Shinigami King's supportive workers." The boar skull opened to communicate this message, only serving to freak me out even more. I brought my hands up to try and wrench the hand off of my face, but its grip was steel-like, and there was nowhere to back away to considering my back was pressed up against the wall.

I started hyperventilating. The skin touching my face was cold and dry, and there was a freaking _monster_ attached to it. A monster who claimed to be one of the henchmen for some Shinigami King. The one who had sent him to kidnap me. I had just been eating dinner and in a somewhat normal environment when some creepy thing just appeared before me in my room. Despite the strong grip, I struggled to get loose and run somewhere, anywhere, just to get away.

"Please stop attempting to struggle." _Attempting?_ I was not _attempting_ to struggle; I was actually doing it with the idea of saving myself before this thing dragged me off to its leader to be supper. "You will not be killed, so your mortal qualms are unnecessary. The Shinigami King merely wishes to make you an offer." With that, he (at least I assumed it was a he considering the voice) plucked me up, making sure to keep one hand over my mouth. My hyperventilating was starting to make me dizzy, so I attempted to calm down so I could think over my escape strategy for when he put me down.

He unfurled a set of black wings on his back, walking towards my now-open window and jumping out. I nearly felt like screaming all over again when the ground started to rush up towards us, but then we began to gain altitude and I just felt every inch of height instead. We flew up into the clouds and continued to get higher until the misty material was the only thing I could see. After a while, everything began to turn a dark shade of red, and the air grew stale. The thing carrying me, Inoshishi as he called himself, removed his hand from my mouth. Although I was glad to be able to scream again, I felt it wouldn't matter considering my current environment, so I kept my mouth shut and instead let my insides turn in rabid fear as more and more of the situation hit my brain. I was being carried by a flying monster through a bunch of spooky, red clouds, and I was about to meet his boss and listen to this deal of his. I doubted I would find anything looking very normal where he was. None of this seemed as though it was a prank, and it felt too real to be a dream. Could it be an illusion? I doubted it, since I wasn't diagnosed as crazy before and I could definitely still feel the great height we were at.

A good three minutes passed before I began to feel as though we were descending. My idea proved correct as the clouds began to part and more of the ground was visible. At least, it could have been considered a ground, if not for how barren and disgustingly dry it looked. We finally landed, kicking up dust as we did so. I choked as I accidentally inhaled some of it, feeling as my throat tightened and dust particles settled in some areas.

"It is this way." Inoshishi began walking in a certain direction, expecting me to follow. I didn't oblige him this, instead staying right where I was and glaring at him. He turned around after a while and looked back at me. "What is the problem?" he called over at me.

I let sarcasm drip into my tone as I answered him, "Oh, nothing, nothing. I just got taken away by some strange beast who tells me to follow him to some leader of his. It's not like I'm freaking out or wondering about my mom and what she'll think when she walks into my room and finds me gone. No, no, it's all good."

He snorted, the first real emotion I had seen from him. "The King of this realm would like to make a deal with you that many humans from your world have silently wished for. Please excuse us for wanting to grant you this wish that you secretly desire. Would you like me to take you home, then?" He also let sarcasm enter his voice as he replied to me.

That set me off. I was very stubborn, or so my mom had said, and I didn't like being looked down upon by anyone. "No, I want to see this king since he went through all of the trouble of getting me here." With that, I stomped right up to him and we continued on. It was amazing that I had gone from freaked out to only mildly spooked in such a short amount of time. Maybe my brain thought it really was an illusion, and was just coping with it all by saying it wasn't real. We walked for a couple of feet in silence. But I broke it when I saw a structure approaching in the distance. "What is that?"

"That is the arena housing the King's throne." He spoke in a monotone once again. I wondered at why I had been brought here as the arena grew closer and closer. Maybe they wanted to offer me immortality. Or could it be one wish that I could come up with? I didn't know, and the possibilities chased each other around in my head until we were at the entrance. Inoshishi led the way inside, and we stepped into a large space that had no roof. It looked as dry and colorless as the outside did, but the smell was less imposing in here.

My eyes immediately went to the only thing in the wide space: a throne. It was rather large, and had little hints of being the same color as gold underneath all of the dirt and dust. On this throne sat yet another creature. It was long-limbed, but I couldn't make out any of its other features as it seemed to be completely made out of darkness. The red eyes peering out at me served to be the only features that weren't too black to distinguish. Although they were red, they didn't seem to hold any menace, only boredom. The thing I supposed was the Shinigami King spoke to me. "Welcome, Orijinaru Kyara, to the Shinigami Realm. Right now, you have not transferred over to a different sort of atmosphere, so you retain your original form. But I wish to make you an offer, and you will most likely have to change in order to completely accept it."

My legs shook as his raspy voice reached me. I couldn't help it, I was facing the king of this realm, and he was talking to me as if this were all normal to him. I wondered what that said about my safety right now, but I decided that if I died, there wouldn't be much I would able to do to stop it. "I-uh-I mean, what is it that you w-wanted?" Crap, I hated that stutter. It only made me look scared and like more of a target.

He chuckled a little. "It is not completely what I wanted, but that is beside the point. I will offer you this one opportunity to fulfill a wish you have wanted for a while: I will recreate your presence in the Death Note universe."

My jaw dropped so hard and fast I heard an audible click. Was this thing for real? It just wasn't possible. But then again, none of this should be possible. I looked around me. I shouldn't have been here. I should have been in my room with my black-and-red bed and once again mourning the loss of my L. "I'm sorry, but I don't really understand. Why, and how, would that happen?" I said when I had finally regained the usage of my vocal cords.

"We are shinigami, or gods of death. We have many powers that can grant many things." he replied.

"O-okay, but why?" That damn stutter again.

"Why?" He let out a full on laugh. It lasted for a few seconds before he slipped back into his uncaring attitude again. "Because shinigami these days often find themselves bored as time ticks on and there is nothing left to do. Truthfully, I want to see what happens to the Death Note universe when I add someone like you in." He looked at her thoughtfully.

"Then, why me?"

"Don't get too conceited. We would have found another fan of Death Note either way, but your hair color caught my eye since it resembled your world's sky so much. That is all. I have put forth the offer, now I will wait for your answer." He straightened up a bit in his seat and gazed at me while I made my decision.

It was a really tempting offer, and I could just see all of the possible things I could do. I had moved past the whole unreal aspect of it all, instead choosing to believe it was as possible as being in that arena was. Now, all I had to do was decide what I wanted.

"What about my world? What will my mom think if I just disappear?" I inquired.

"Nothing. Time will be frozen until you decide whether or not you wish to return. If you choose not to, I will simply erase your existence there and allow you to live in realm you decide to stay in. If it makes you feel any better, I will incorporate your mother's presence into Death Note as well, though she will never know that she was switched into a different world."

That made the decision much easier. My mother was one of the things that would keep me behind in our universe. Now that that was resolved, I knew what my decision would be. "I will accept this offer." I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I said it.

He chuckled to himself again. "Very well. However, there will be some conditions."

I waited for him to continue. "What are they?"

He pulled a necklace out of what appeared to be a pocket. I couldn't really tell since everything about him looked solid to me. "First, you will agree to allow your memories of your world be erased, and for new memories to be implemented for the world you are about to enter."

"But," I grew desperate at this piece of information, "how will I save L if I don't remember what it is that I'm doing this for?"

"Do not worry; I am only able to erase the memories from your conscious mind. Your subconscious will retain your memories and will give you subtle warnings of what it is you wish to do. You may even have them transferred to you in a dream." He smiled as though what he said wasn't stressing me out. "Secondly," he lightly shook the necklace in his hand, which appeared to have a flat, metal heart on the end of it, "you will only receive great intellect while wearing this item. While it is not on you, you will be unable to come to conclusions as L or Light would."

"And how will I remember to always wear it if I forget everything?" I was getting annoyed with this whole thing.

"Oh, you will remember. Not only will your subconscious remind you, but you will also figure it out yourself. I have already come up with a life that will allow you and your new situation to seem believable. So, do you agree to these conditions?" He looked at me with bored eyes, awaiting my final answer.

"I-I," I thought over everything he had said before I answered as eloquently as I could, "I a-accept."

He rose from his throne and strode over to me. As he got closer, all I could think of was how much he smelled like death, but I kept my face neutral so as not to insult him. He extended his hand towards me, and I took it hesitatingly after a few seconds. His palm was warm, but still dry.

That was the last thing I felt before blacking out. Then, I fell down into relative peace as my memories were all taken away, and replaced with new ones.

**Thanks for reading ^^.**


	2. Paranoia

**Thanks for being patient and waiting for the next installment, though it took quite a ... long while. Hehe, well, I'd like to thank animeangel2798, Animenerdperson12367, and tahere for following this story :). I would also like to thank snow642 and tahere again for adding it to their favorites list ;). Thank's guys.**_  
_

**Please review if you like this story and to encourage me to write more :). Oh, and I don't own Death Note, because I'll admit that I absolutely suck at drawing, so even the thumbnails wouldn't work for me DX.  
**

* * *

_Uggh… is it morning already?_

My head rolled to the right as I craned my neck to look out the window on the wall.

…

This weird feeling of… realization?... came over me and my body suddenly jerked upright and I gasped loudly. My heart was beating fast as I scanned the room, looking for something. I relaxed when I didn't find some terrifying monster standing there with me. _What is wrong with me? Why am I looking for a monster? _

I did an eye-roll, stepping out of bed in my pj's and heading towards the closet. I grabbed something plain to wear: calf-length pants with a brown belt, a brown tank-top, and a coat that was darker. Picking up some underwear from my drawers, I then went to the bathroom for a much-needed shower. The water felt nice against my skin, and I cleaned my hair thoroughly before stepping out and getting dressed. I left my hair surrounded with the towel while I went to go make myself breakfast.

It was around 10:00 in the morning, which meant I must have stayed up pretty late last night. I sighed, having forgotten just what had happened. It was amazing I even had anything to do. There wasn't much left that I could do ever since my parents had died a few years back. Chichi Notsuki and Haha Notsuki had been in a car accident with a drunk driver. Chichi, my father, had been an accountant for some major stock company. His good looks always helped him advance in his career, but he denied such accusations. He had nice wavy black hair, with a cleft chin, deep brown eyes, and a square jaw to make any woman swoon. Haha, my mother, had the same sky-blue hair I did, and her face was plain, having a more feminine jawline, a regular mouth, and a regular nose. What really made her stand out and made my father absolutely fall for her, was her large, golden eyes. They were always so radiant and lively that she came off younger than she actually was. Sometimes, I wish I had inherited them, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Ever since the accident, I had been put into this apartment by one of the sponsors running a special program for orphaned teens. We were each assigned a special social worker who came to check up on us three times a week. My social worker was Sai Kyara, a woman with navy blue hair, pale purple eyes, a straight nose, and a regular-sized mouth. She was like a second mother to me. She always brought some form of food with her on visits, and she talked with me like I was another person like her, not a victim of a tragic loss. Her smiles were easy to come by, and she wasn't too harsh when I did something I wasn't supposed to. I thought of the odds of her becoming my 'guardian', and I was relieved that I had been assigned to her. She was the closest person I had in my life.

My parents' deaths had also made me a bit antisocial. My friends had gradually left me behind, and there weren't any going-away parties when I had to move over here in Japan. I didn't mind too much, so long as I had Ms. Kyara. Other than that, I had also grown an unhealthy obsession with anime. Naruto inspired me when I was feeling in the rut. Natsu made me feel smart. Haruhi made me feel normal. I never went so far as to wish I was in their universes, messing with things, but I admired how they could change my mood so quickly. I was weird like that. Even my name was weird: Orijinaru Notsuki. If I had been Ms. Kyara's daughter, I knew it would have been much weirder.

Getting back from my train of thought, I reached up in the kitchen cabinet and grabbed the box of Chex. I grabbed a bowl from inside the clean dishwasher and began to pour myself some. After I poured the milk in, I began eating it hungrily.

It wasn't until I had finished scrubbing my dirty dishes that I got this weird feeling. Looking down at my wet hands… I couldn't help but think that they looked so… flat. I couldn't explain it, but it was like I had lost a dimension. It also felt like I was missing something important about my social worker. My head continued to be pounded with the notion that she was more important than she already was to me. Gripping the countertop, I _forced_ the emotions I didn't like out of my head, and the thoughts that came with them. Because, come on, I already know I'm crazy; there was no need to take it any further than that. _It's probably because I was just thinking about Ms. Kyara, and I don't have my necklace on yet. Sometimes I feel uneasy if it isn't around my neck._

Knowing that, I marched back to my bedroom to retrieve it from the computer desk where I had left it the night before. It was made out of metal, with a beautiful, silver heart pendant attached to it. I'd had it with me ever since eight years ago, when… I shook my head; I didn't want to think about it right now.

Another strange sensation came over me, like I had forgotten something really important. But it wasn't like before, with all of these alien emotions just flooding into me. I walked into the living room, with modern furniture that was all an icky shade of green. Even the TV was set atop a lime-green cover that just looked horrendous anywhere near it. I might have redecorated it, but I only had so much money, and I needed to save up for college and stuff like that. So, my living room was just going to have to suffer being gross until the next orphan who stayed here decided to change it themselves. I strode up to the calendar on the right side of said television, looking at the date.

_Hmm… it's November 28, so… HOLY SHIT! I forgot my appointment! If I don't go, I might not be able to land another scholarship so hefty. Damnit!_

I ran like a bat out of hell to do my hair and grab my bag and keys, running out the door in the hopes of making my 11:10 interview with some To-Oh University representatives. They were giving away special scholarships for orphans with low funds, provided they had a good record and the grades to prove they were 'worthy' of being in university. My feet pounded the ground as I rounded corner after corner, racing to the bus-stop. It took me a few minutes to get there, and I was exhausted once I did. The people around me looked concerned, though they didn't ask if I was alright, just continued to board the bus in front of them. I quickly got in line, attempting to control my breathing. I took a seat near the back since the front was already packed, and I discreetly sniffed myself, checking to see if I reeked from body odor. I was glad that it was only minor, and a few sprays from my handy cheap perfume would fix it.

It was 11:06 when I was walking up to the open door in the administrator's office. It shut behind me, and I was faced with a woman in her late fifties. She told me to go through another door on my right, and I thanked her before leaving. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I heard her say, "Teenagers, humph, always showing up at the last minute. Back in my day…"

Once I entered a large, bleak room, I closed the door and walked to the center of it, facing a table filled with strict-looking individuals who each had a sharp glint in their eyes as they looked me over. _This is going to be a long day._

…

I exited the room around four hours later. I was exhausted, especially in my legs, which had been shaking nearly the entire time. I stuttered with numerous answers, and watched as their faces grew more disapproving as each word got another syllable. It was absolutely mortifying, though they said I still had a shot considering my high test scores. I was apparently the sixth top student in the country, and that was when I was too lazy to do all my work. But there was no way I was going to brag. I hate those types of people who feel the need to put every major achievement they'd ever had out there for people to compliment. Besides, if I was too lazy to do the actual work all the way, there was no point in fooling myself into believing that I was smarter than I was. Intelligence is not limited to what you know, but what you do along with it, or so I always thought. Well, it didn't hurt to be sixth in the country, especially not today, when I could've been out of the running with the little performance I was giving. I thought at one point that they had even started to believe that I was trying to be funny with them. _Yeah, 'cause a high-level student can't be nervous or anything._

I hung my head. There was nothing I could do but sit around and wait for the results. After that, then I could mentally skin myself alive for being born chronically tongue-tied. Perhaps if I had worn something black that day, I wouldn't have felt so out of place. But then I dropped the idea, since I was beginning to pick at pieces of hay.

I strode towards the bus stop, ready to go home.

When I got there, who else should be on my couch but Ms. Kyara? She quickly stood up, revealing casual sweats and a t-shirt. _She must have been on her afternoon jog._

"Hello, Ori." She greeted me with a wide smile, and I smiled back at her nickname for me.

"Hey Ms. Kyara. How's it going?" I deposited my bag on the couch and sat down next to it and her.

"Hmm? Oh, everything's fine. But I do have to ask about how your interview went." Her eyes were expectant as they took me in from the side.

"It went… well enough."

"Well enough? What do you mean by that?"

"Umm… well, I practically stuttered through the whole thing."

"Ouch. Are they still considering you though?" She looked worriedly at me as she turned her body to face mine.

"They say my grades and performance are good enough to keep me in the running… but I don't think I'm a complete shoe-in." I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. "I just hope I can get into some kind of college. I don't want to end up a hobo."

She laughed. "Yes, that would be rather unfortunate. Then you would have to move all over the place, and I wouldn't be able to find you to give you some of my delicious home-made fudge balls." Smiling knowingly, she pulled a back from next to the couch onto her lap. I could already smell the chocolaty goodness wafting from it.

"Hmm… It would be a shame if I was denied this simple pleasure in life." My mouth watered, and I waited for her to open it and hand me a piece, which I plopped into my mouth. "Ahhh…" I sighed in pleasure, sticking another in as Ms. Kyara did the same.

"So…" she opened her mouth to ask me another question. "You got anything else you're up to?"

I thought about that for a bit. "Uhh… no. I am going to go look for some more black clothing at Hot Topic later on. They have some new jeans and skirts that I might want to check out."

"Uggh." She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Your Gothic store."

"It is an amazing store. I even get some of my screamo music from there. It's the only place I'll buy clothes from." I stared at the ground for a bit in concentration of nothing.

"Did you hear about that… umm… what's his name? Oh yeah, have you heard about that Kurou Otoharada?"

"No… can't say I have." Even so, the name rang a distant bell in my mind.

"Well, apparently he held an elementary school teacher and her students hostage. He was probably after money. But then he suddenly collapsed and the kids came rushing outside. It was strange, I've never seen someone have a heart-attack in the middle of something like that."

"That's pretty weird. It was probably just a coincidence, but at least those guys weren't hurt." My hands unconsciously started fiddling with the heart of my necklace. The event was abnormal, but not _much_. Still, these stupid feelings I recently acquired were spiking my paranoia levels.

Ms. K closed the lid and handed it over to me. "Sorry, I have something to do now. I just stopped by to say hello." _Oh yeah, I forgot that she was supposed to be visiting in a couple of days._ "Now I've got to go check up on some of the others." She gave me an award-winning smile as she stood and brushed her hands on her sweats. She started heading out the door, only stopping to turn back like she had forgotten something. "Oh yeah, and Ori? Don't go wandering the streets late at night. There's been a spike in crime lately, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Alrighty boss." I used a sarcastic tone and mock-saluted her.

She threw a worried glance over at me before shutting the door. _I'll be just fine. She just worries too much for her own good. Pretty soon, she'll start getting wrinkles from all that concern. _I laughed at the thought of my attractive social worker looking like a grandma with a hot body.

I looked at the clock again, and saw that it was 4:37. It would lessen my boredom if I went to Hot Topic right then, so I decided I would.

I spent hours just looking at all the new stuff lining the racks and counters. There were new wallets with captions depicting the middle finger on them. Others held more dark themes concerning different types of flowers. I especially admired the one with roses on it. It looked really pretty to me with its red and black coloring. I almost bought one, but then I remembered that I didn't have enough money to splurge at the moment.

I needed a better job. I was currently working as an engraver at a trophy factory. Each work day, I would come in and carve whatever message was needed into five-hundred plus trophies. It was not fun, but I needed the cash, and they needed the work. I was thinking about getting a job more in the probability field. I found I was good at predicting things… but I could just be a little cocky at the same time. It didn't matter; I just needed to get a serious occupational upgrade. Until then, it was sticking to sweating scholarships, no splurging, and putting food on the table and water and electricity in the house.

So, most of my trip was spent looking around and buying a few cool jeans and a lot of new shirts. By the time I was done, it was really dark outside.

Considering that the store wasn't that far away from my apartment, I just walked home. My shopping bag with my purse inside was carried in my right hand, and my left just dangled at my side. My eyes were straight ahead as I pondered whether or not I could possibly get into To-Oh or anywhere else if I applied for another scholarship.

Because I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts, I didn't register the sound of motorcycles speeding towards me until one shined its bright lights on me and I heard a ragged voice say, "Hey  
baby!"

I turned towards the lights, gasping, and one of the vehicles drove up behind me, another blocking the path in front. My legs began to shake as I looked at the man wearing sunglasses with a space in-between his front teeth. His eyes leered at me from behind those dark shades.

"Where you going? Come have a little fun with us. A blue-head like you should be pretty exciting." He leaned slightly towards me as he said this in an appreciative voice.

"That's our Taku for ya," the guy behind me spoke. "This guy could spot a hottie a mile away."

"What's up little lady?" He lowered his glasses a little bit so we were now staring at each other's eyes. "The name's Takuo Shibuimaru. What do you say? Come hang out with us pretty lady." Takuo's voice grew loud as he talked to me. He was wearing biking clothes with fur on them and a white helmet.

I didn't know exactly where this was going, but I didn't want to stick around and find out either. "Please," I began, "I don't want any trouble."

Another of this guy's lackeys spoke up to my right. "You hear that? She doesn't want trouble." He mocked me in a degrading voice. _What a jerk! No, I can't egg them on. I need to get out of here, that's all I need to do._

"Whoo, isn't that cute?" Takuo's voice began to sound more and more annoying as I had to listen to his continuing words. I turned around, hoping to try and duck out around the guy behind me. But, fate would have it that Takuo put a metal pole around my neck and was pulling me backwards so that my body was half leaning back, half standing on the pavement. _What the…? WHEN THE HELL DID HE GET THIS POLE?! I don't remember him having it on him!_

They all laughed in my ears at my vulnerability, my defenselessness. I was angry. I was pissed… But I was also scared, of what they would do to me, of whether I would be able to fight back or not. The latter was probably the truest, since Takuo seemed to have a steely grip, and I couldn't budge the thing around my neck an inch.

"Let's go boys! Strip her down right here." _FUCK NO! I don't want to be raped, I don't want to be stripped!_

"Are you sure?" The guy who had been on the motorcycle previously behind me asked this in an eager voice. He didn't even wait for an answer to move his hands to the belt around my waist. He unbuckled it like a pro.

"No!" I stopped trying to push the tube off my neck and lowered my hands onto his to keep him from going any further. We struggled for a bit. "Stop!" I pleaded with him. They merely chuckled lowly. "Please, help me!" I screamed to the streets around me, though there didn't seem to be anyone there. The shops around me were lively though, the occupants of which I so desperately cried out to for help.

But no one came to my aid. Instead, I felt Takuo's grip loosen as he bent over to watch with lusty eyes as the guy in front continued to try to pull down my pants. I used the opportunity to use my neck and one hand to shove the pipe as hard as I possibly could. I gasped in relief when it came off, and quickly ran to the side of the sidewalk, gasping as I hastily redid the belt and took in air greedily.

"Hey, wait up!" The supposed leader's voice came from behind me, and I heard his engine rev to life. I began to cross the street in a hurry to get away from these low-life bastards. I had dropped my bag when they had started the assault, but I wasn't too concerned with getting it back. When asked if I would prefer rape to losing some clothes… yeah, I think I would go with the 'losing some clothes' option. So I ran as fast as my legs would carry me.

"Takuo!"

"Look out!" His lackeys seemed to have noticed something he and I hadn't, but I didn't care.

I heard his motorcycle getting close to me… And then…

_Craaashh…_

The sound of metal on metal, breaking glass, and … something else being ripped reached my ears as a strong wind rushed right behind me.

"No…." I huffed as my body stumbled, my hand reaching towards the ground to push my torso back up so I could keep running. "No….." My voice came out scared and small as I realized what must have happened. Then, I screamed.

It was ear-piercingly loud and just as scared sounding. I was scared alright, scared shitless.

I stumbled once I got to the sidewalk, breathing hard, with tears streaming out of my eyes. I was still screaming as I looked back at what had once been a lust-filled biker. I finally stopped screaming, and just retched on the side. Once I was done with that, I moved on to hyperventilating.

_What the… What the… WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?! _ I was barely capable of coherent thought. _Oh God, Oh God… He just… and I… Oh God, OH GOD!_

I retched again.

My body was shaking, with fear, with understanding… but also, with recognition. And that just freaked me out to the point that I didn't register anything… nothing… except the face of the boy looking out a window in a magazine store across the street. He had nicely done brown hair, beautiful brown eyes, and clothes that looked like they would die if they ever encountered a wrinkle. He was staring incredulously at the scene. He was scared, too. I could tell, but there was also a look of confirmation, and guilt, in his eyes. His breathing came fast.

I didn't know who this guy was, but suddenly, a name popped into my mind: _Light Yagami_.

My mouth dropped in horror at the thought. _Oh God, now I'm imagining that I know random guys. I… I need to go home! I need to get away from here! I should have listened to mom… er, Ms. Kyara. Now I'm messing up people in my own head!_

I stood up on shaky legs, walking home as fast as I possibly could in my condition. I stumbled four times before running into my door and taking out the keys. Once inside, I slammed the door behind me and crumpled to the floor, just sobbing as hard as was possible. Eventually, I fell asleep in that position, and my dreams were haunted with games of chess and pieces that had faces on them, like that guy at the magazine store's face.

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**Thanks for reading ^^.**


	3. Chess

**I guess I felt pretty inspired to be here posting the next chapter so soon... instead of uploading my other fan-fic... again -_-. Disregarding all of that, I would like to thank all of those who have put this story on their favorite/alert list :D. I suppose, as an author with a bit of pride, I will also acknowledge my gratitude for those who have added _me_ to their author favorite and/or alert list :D. **_  
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**blackshadow98: Thanks, and I agree with you on that. Don't we all just wish we could try to save someone on Death Note? Other than that, I've read a few fan-fics with those ideas you had in them, and I don't want to just follow suit. I have a very different idea in mind... and you'll just have to read to find out what it is ;).  
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**KhinGotRice: ... um... I assume you're just joking about that bolded part right? Moving on to the rest of your review and the other one: Thank you so much. I wanted a story like this, too, though the idea was kind of foggy in my mind until I started typing and thinking about all the things that would sound interesting and believable... And having her replace the girl in the motorcycle scene was an unshakeable event in my mind. I knew that no matter what I did, I had to have her there to make the story more interesting and to add on to it in further chapters.  
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_I was running. The ground quickly rushed past me in a black-and-white checkered blur. The small amount of air I was able to take in felt stuffy and smelled like Walnut._

_I tripped over my own feet, but corrected myself and continued on, looking for something significant. My confidence faded as nothing popped up and I was left with only the decorative, barren landscape._

_I started to become frustrated as my running grew more pointless and I found I was unable to stop of my own will. Legs growing more and more exhausted, I stumbled frequently and wondered where I was going… and what I was leaving behind. No answers arose to satisfy my questions._

_When it was nearing the point that I felt I might actually collapse, greyish figures appeared in the distance. Mercifully, my legs began to slow into a walking pace so I was able to catch my breath a little. Once I was able to fully appreciate my odor-detecting glands, I also realized that there was a small scent of Windex. I grew more curious, and the heat in my legs seemed to fade with each new step. I gingerly approached the growing… chess pieces?_

_Sucking in a deep breath, I strode up to them. They were all regularly shaped and seemed to be in their beginning positions, and the floor below them held smaller tiles than the ones I had been traveling across, big enough for only one piece to fit on. What struck me the most as odd was not that they were all twice as tall as I was, but that there were three different colors: light grey, dark grey, and… purple? I shook my head to clear it. None of this dream made sense to me since I was not an avid fan of this popular strategic game, but I was pretty certain that the traditional colors were _black _and _white_. Not two different shades of grey and some funky color like purple in it._

_I stared at this weird design that my mind had come up with, and jumped ten feet in the air when a voice began whispering to me. "Everything has a meaning." It was feminine and breathy, like speaking too loudly or with too much emphasis might shatter its ability to communicate. _

"_Wh-what do you mean by that?" I hadn't thought it possible to shake in a dream, but now my stellar mind was proving me wrong._

"_Look at the colors and decide what you think. You might want to clean some of the pieces to get a better view of them." _

_And, as the mind usually does when dreaming, I accepted the voice as if I heard her every day. Turning, I walked onto the playing board and made my way to the middle. I turned a full circle, just taking everything in and starting to think things through out loud… well, out loud in my dreamscape._

"_The colors aren't regular… but two different shades of grey… which means they could represent different aspects of a common idea… or a common opponent, or area. Is that right?"_

"_Only you know the answer to that."_

"_Tcchh. Fine then." I tuned the voice out as I moved on to the next characteristics that were blaring out at me. "… and these purple pieces… purple's the color of confusion… or bruises… and a lot of other stuff, but if I'm thinking in terms of common things, confusion would be the best choice… And each purple piece of one thing matches up with the same one on the other side… Hm…."_

"_Maybe a closer look will help? You can clean them with the Windex behind you." she reminded me of what she had said earlier about cleaning._

"_What Windex?" I turned and saw a bottle of the chemical liquid at my feet along with a rag for cleaning. "Oh."_

_Even though I tend to be lazy, I walked all the way up to the dark grey king first. I sprayed a small amount on the neck and began wiping the dust away with the cloth. "It's a… a notebook?... No," I examined it closer as there seemed to be words on it, "a D-Death Note." Chills ran up my spine as I spoke the words aloud. It gave me an ominous feeling, but I stored the information away to think about after I had seen what the rest of these dusty structures held on them._

"_Try the other king next."_

_I winced. "If you're not going to be of much help in figuring these out, you can at least not boss me around." Despite having said that, I followed her suggestion, moving across to the other side. I began cleaning the light grey king. "This one has a… mansion on it… It's pretty detailed." I bent my face down and tried to decipher the tiny script written along the gates of it. "Warney's? … No, it says Wammy's… Wammy's House." I straightened back up. "The kings of this game are a mansion and a Death Note?"_

"_In essence, yes."_

Hmm…. _"Why are the queens both purple?" Not even waiting for a response that I knew would tell me to find out for myself, I walked to the more feminine structure beside the light-grey king and began dusting. "… it's a balance? What the hell's a balance doing with a mansion?" I strode back over to the queen on the other side and uncovered a balance on her as well. "A balance on both sides?... A balance… a balance…" I knew it was a symbol for something, but I couldn't quite remember what it was. "Oh yeah!" I snapped my fingers in triumph. "It most commonly stands for the idea of justice." _

"_That is right."_

_I sighed tiredly. "I'm not getting it. Why am I being shown all this? I don't understand how a notebook, a big house, and justice all ties in together."_

"_Keep on working and you will see."_

_I made no argument against her, though I might have in another time. Truthfully, my interest was piqued, and I hadn't had something to take my mind off of everything in a while. Moving over to each individual piece, I began dusting all of them and taking mental notes of it all. _

"_Let's see… I'll just take care of the entire dark-grey side first and then move onto the other one." I moved to the bishops on each side. The first one was this side's choosing color, holding a grotesque face that made my hand freeze for a second. I didn't know what to make of it… I didn't even know the gender. It had hair that reminded me of Medusa… and a bandage wrapped around the head, covering one of its eyes. The one eye that was visible did not have any irises, just a long, snake-like pupil. There was a bat's snout positioned in the middle of its face, and the large, full lips were slightly parted so that I could see two long fangs. It looked horrendous, inhuman… but I wondered at why it was a bishop, placing my hand on the features and tracing them quickly. _

"_Rem." I looked in the general direction above me as the voice sounded in my ears._

"_What's that?"_

"_The name of the creature. Rem." I nodded like it was common to give names to such beasts, moving on to the bishop on the other side of the king. This one was purple like the queen. _

_A few seconds later, I found I had uncovered yet another beast-like face. It was completely covered in bondage. The only things that seemed to be capable of feeling the air were its similarly slanted eyes, the bat-like nose, and the jagged mouth. There didn't seem to be any lips, just long canines jutting out of dry skin where they shouldn't have. _

"_Sidoh." The voice provided. I quickly moved across to the other purple bishop on the other side. There, I revealed the same face._

"_Interesting… If I'm thinking in the right direction, then all of these purple chess pieces each hold the same image on a different side… which means that they benefit both?... or that they fight for both?" I moved back over to the dark-grey side and the first knight. Yet again, a mysterious being stared out at me. His hair was all up in spikes; his eyes were large and humorous, though they too appeared to only be pupil… or maybe just iris? I couldn't tell since the carvings weren't exactly colored in. He also seemed to trend that nose the other two held, so I came to the idea that they were part of the same species, though I could have been wrong considering how not similar they were concerning other facial features. _

"_Ryuk." the whisper supplied again. I simply nodded, I knew there was no way I would remember these names when I woke up._

_The next knight rooted me to the spot in shock… It was the same face as the guy who was in that store when I got attacked. His hair was still perfectly aligned, and not a blemish appeared on his perfect-looking face. But his eyes were what spoke to me the most. They were narrowed in suspicion and with the promise of supplying revenge on all those who went against him. I just stared at him for a couple of minutes, wondering why he had appeared in here of all places._

"_Light Yagami." I took in a breath and held it as my suspicions of what his name was were confirmed._

"_Wh-why is this dude in my dreams." The ever-imposing stutter had shown himself once again in the face of my confusion._

"_You'll have to decide that for yourself. Now, why don't you look at all of the other images and then think about how they all fit together?" Moving in what felt like a mechanical fashion, I continued to dust and spray and wipe and clean until the whole air around me smelled like Windex mixed with dust, and that was just on the one side I was currently at. _

"_You know," I coughed, "you should really learn how to clean better instead of making games out of the dusty objects to trick other people into cleaning."_

"_I can't 'clean', as you say. I am merely an embodiment of your desires. I have no arms or legs to touch with… and if I did all this for you, you wouldn't have a firmer grasp on the point of it all and would be more likely to forget everything. This way, at least you will remember some of the carvings."_

_Not admitting to seeing her point, I looked over all the clean figures and started to assign them the correct names as she had given them to me. "DG King is a Death Note, DG Queen is possibly justice, DG Bishop is Rem, Purple Bishop is Sidoh, DG Knight is Light Yagami, DG Knight 2 is Ryuk, DG Rook 1 is Misa Amane, DG Rook 2 is Mikami Teru, Purple Pawn 1 is Soichiro Yagami, Purple Pawn 2 is Mogi Kanzo, Purple Pawn 3 is Matsuda Touta, Purple Pawn 4 is Aizawa Shuichi… Then the rest of the dark-grey pawns are: Kiyomi Takada, Higuchi Kyosuke, Naomi Misora, and Raye Penber… That's it right?"_

"_Yes, now just move onto the light grey ones. You already know what's on the purple structures, but you should clean them off anyways."_

"_Oh, so you really are getting me to clean up for you, eh?" I would have stopped, but this was fun for a foggy mind like mine at the moment._

"_No, if you want anything to continue on, you must understand that relationships are a key factor and everything has a meaning on this board. Leaving images unseen could lead to leaving key evidence unheard."_

"_I didn't know this had turned into some investigation."_

"_Everything has a –"_

"_Yeah, yeah, I get it already! It all has a reason behind it!" I stomped over to the other side and began dusting the purple ones first since they would hold no surprises. Moving onwards towards the still-dirty pieces, I patiently scrubbed and listened to all of the names I was given, memorizing the way they sounded in my ears and recording them on my mental…er, thought mental notepad. _

"_Let's see, forgetting about the purple ones… LG Bishop is Mello, LG Rook is Near, LG Rook 2 is Matt, LG Pawn is Rester, LG Pawn 2 is Lidner, LG Pawn 3 is Gevanni, and LG Pawn 4 is Watari." I waited for her to confirm that I was correct._

"_Don't forget the knight_s_."_

"_What's with the emphasis on that last s… oh, I forgot about the second light-grey knight…" I went up to it, wondering why it had slipped my mind. I hadn't even registered its firm existence, only knowing that it was there in general as a rule. "Well," I began rubbing the last figure clean, "the first knight was… L? Yeah, L… and this one is… damn." The filth didn't seem to want to come off, so I had to put a lot of elbow grease into it. "Almost… got it!" I froze in shock at the final face in front of me… and it was _me_. "Why am I-I on it?"_

"_Because, you too have a role to play in this mindful game. Whether your piece moves you in the right direction or not lies solely within your own choices."_

"_Are the people… and _things_… on these pieces placed according to how strong they are in the game? Is that even a question you can answer?" I cocked my head, listening for the voice I had grown accustomed to hearing._

_She seemed to take a while with responding, thinking over what would be her best option. "Fortunately, I can tell you that. No, they are not labeled according to their ranks… but rather, their abilities. Just because an individual holds a talent qualifying them in the pawn range doesn't mean that talent isn't stronger than one holding the rook position."_

"_And was I right in assuming that the purple coloring stood for confusion?"_

_Another pause. "Not quite. The individuals are unable to tell which side they are truly working for… but it also means that they bestow benefit on both, therefore acting as opponents on each side. The same idea applies to regular pawns. While they may not be willingly benefitting a certain side, they are still doing so, even if they haven't had the chance to help the color they wish to. This qualifies them in a different color-area."_

"_Alrighty then." I inhaled and exhaled deeply a couple of times, taking in the noxious cleaner perfumes as well as the woodsy smell all around me. "Well, now that that's all settled… what next?"_

_Just as I said that, the light-grey pawn with Watari's face I had been standing next to moved on its own all of a sudden. "Holy Shit!" I squeaked and jumped aside so I wouldn't be toppled in the process. "What the hell?! Why didn't you warn me, whispery… thingy?" _

"_They were triggered by your question, I didn't have enough time to say anything. It would be best if you moved off the board and just watched the pieces."_

_I jogged to the end where I had first gotten on and moved onto the larger squares I had started this dream with. I faced the chess game happening before me and watched the moves being made with intent eyes. Apparently, Watari had merely moved forward one space, not really doing much harm. The other side followed with Soichiro Yagami… and the lighter side copied this move. Next came Aizawa from both sides, then the Matsudas, and finally the Mogis. _

"_The first gaming pieces are making their moves… but they're not really paying attention to what the other is doing… more like they're doing it blindly or out of the sake of repeating each other's copies. Though I don't see why the opposing side would bring forward the pieces that helped the opponent as well."_

"_Purple pieces move of their own accord, their movements just happen to 'fit the bill' of both cases." Her voice had begun to sound more distant for some reason, but I didn't pay much attention as to why._

"_Hmm…. It looks like it's dark-grey's move…" But, before I could think any further into what their next move would be, or what strategies would be used, a large sound penetrated my foggy conscious._

_It was… a ringing sort of noise. As it grew louder, the pieces began to all fade away._

"_Wait!" I shouted, but to no avail, for they had all vanished by the time the word had left my mouth. The checkers, both small and large, followed suit, and then I was left with that ringing that kept getting louder and louder…_

I jolted awake.

The ringing filled my head as I registered a faint vibration in my pocket. It was my phone.

Taking it out, I checked the caller ID. Seeing Ms. Kyara's name in bold, I hurried to flip it open. But I was too late and heard a disconnecting sound. _Darn it… I'll just call her back._

My gaze fell on my necklace on the floor, where it had ended up in the process of slumber. Pieces began to click as I felt the ache in my limbs and felt the puffy and warm areas around my eyes. By the time everything came back to me, the assault, the leader, and the accident, I was cold both inside and out. There was nothing left to be. I had already gone through the regular emotions before I went to sleep; all that was left was to be numb. That… and feeling that weird confusion from trying to remember my dream from the night before. It felt as though something important had happened in it, but I couldn't quite remember what. There had been chess-pieces… and a voice… and something to do with colors? But there were also faces to go along with the chess-men and -hierarchy. I couldn't remember the names, but two faces remained crystal clear: the boy I had dubbed to be the brown-haired OCD dude, and a guy with really messy hair, eyes that reminded me of a panda, and a thin facial outline, though not majorly so.

But that didn't matter at the moment. I shook my head, telling myself it wasn't that important and I could just forget about it for a while. Grabbing my necklace from the floorboards, I placed it around my neck again, sitting up and stretching my body. _What matters the most right now is calling Ms. Kyara back._ And so I did.

Ignoring the fact that my sinuses were clogged, making my voice deeper and sound sick, I punched in her phone-number and held the device up to my ear. It rang for a few seconds before Ms. K picked up.

"Orijinaru! I've been trying to get ahold of you for so long! Where were you?" Her voice was tight with worry as she addressed me.

"I'm at home, and I was sleeping in front of my door for the night."

"Your door?... Why?"

"I… I should ha-have listened to you… I went out yesterday, and didn't start coming home until it was dark… and… a-and something happened. I lost my purse… b-but a man… he w-was killed." My voice faded into a whisper as my stuttering intensified due to the cold temperature the room seemed to be in.

She was quiet on the other end, and I waited as patiently as I could for her to answer. I began to think that she had already hung up, and was about to close my phone, when she replied, "I'll be right over."

I heard a click on the other end and knew she was probably getting into her car as I sat there shivering in the cold.

Deciding that just standing there wasn't going to do me all that much good, I headed to my bedroom, pulling on my pj's and grabbing the blanket off my bed, preferring to be waiting out in the living room. I decided to try to brush my teeth, thinking all the shaking my hands had begun doing would create an electric toothbrush effect with my mechanical one. I washed some of the dirt off my face, too.

Walking back out to the living room, I hopped over the top of the couch with my large blanket and wrapped it tightly around my sitting figure. Cautiously, I tried to clear my nose in the way most kids did those days: I sniffed until I actually got air into my nasal passageways, then I sniffed some more. I only stopped when I knew my nostrils were now slightly swollen, but knew that would go down in a few minutes' tops.

Slowly, my body began to warm up underneath the heavy fabric, and my puffy eyes began to feel more normal. I sat there then, just twiddling the necklace around with my fingers. _That boy appeared in my dream and in real life… some significance to it? Maybe, maybe not… Perhaps I just developed a strange crush on him. That wouldn't be too far-fetched. He was pretty good-looking for an OCD dude. But I wonder who that second face was? Maybe he w-_

_Knock knock._

I felt like asking, "Who is it?" and then making one of those cheesy jokes… but I knew that would just be the stupidest thing ever. It was best to ignore my strange urges whenever I was in a tense situation. So, I got up and walked to the door, making sure to keep the blanket around my head and shoulders to retain my warmth.

I opened the door… and saw two men standing there. They weren't much in the way of body-builds, but an authoritative aura still radiated off of them. One had short-cropped blonde hair while the other guy had long and black wavy hair. I couldn't see exactly what they looked like since they wore sunglasses much like the ones worn in cliché cop movies.

"Excuse me, ma'am." The blonde spoke up from slightly behind the other one's left shoulder. "We're going to need to ask you a few questions."

All of my previously acquired warmth fled quickly away.

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**IMPORTANT NOTICE! READ! Alright, this isn't as important as I make it out to be, but I have a poll up on my profile asking my readers whether they would like me to post a one-shot interpretation of Orijinaru's dream. I promise you, it all has a meaning behind it, and telling you wouldn't be ruining the story, so why not give you the option? Vote on my poll, or vote in a review and I'll just post the vote in the poll. I want to feel accomplished, I guess :D.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and be sure to post a review and help support this story if you like reading it ;).  
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	4. Personality

**Hi, and thanks for waiting so patiently for my next update ^^. Now, I warn you, thing's will seem just a little bit fast in this chapter, but grab onto the knowledge so you know what's going on :). **_  
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**Mami-chan: Thank you so much ^^.  
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**Jesi: Thank you, too. Great writers need people supporting them to turn out great stories.  
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**Josef Sieffen: o.o... Thank you, really. I very much appreciate it. You reviewed both Death Note: Time Gone By and then you came here to review another of my stories. Really, I'm very honored to have a fan like you :).  
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**Death-Note-Fan01: :D, cool, I love favorites and follows from people. And that saying 'Oh my Kira' sounds awesome X).  
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**Thiefheart-Time: *grabs earmuffs* Thank you for such an awesome compliment. I'm glad you stuck to the story despite the paragraph lengths (that might be a problem with me, the lengths and such), so thank you a lot :).  
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_Tap, tap, tap…_

My fingers continued the pattern on the coffee table sitting between the officers and me. My butt was parked on one of the table chairs, while my 'guests' occupied the couch. It had been a couple of minutes since they first knocked on my door, and they were still pulling files out of the briefcases they had brought. _What are people dressed as police officers doing with _briefcases_? Shouldn't a detective be here instead with all that?_

"My name is Mr. Yang." the wavy-haired dude said. His black hair seemed to brush against his shoulders with each breath he took, which was oddly interesting. I was most likely trying to not think I was actually in such a situation. _Huh, maybe it isn't that bad. It's not like they can _blame_ me for that._ "And this," he gestured to his blonde companion, breaking my reverie, "is Mr. Kanade.

"Now, let's get right down to business. It is my understanding that you were present when a certain man was run over by a large vehicle." _I wish he'd take those glasses off. Argh, I can't even see his eyes._ The fact that I couldn't see them, however, didn't mean that I couldn't tell how piercing they were. If I didn't know any better, I'd have said that he was peeping into my vast mind of weirdness…

"Yeah, you could say that." Too bad I hadn't had my tremor fixed yet. I knew I couldn't just lie down and be road kill for those guys, but my vocal cords were obviously in the blind.

Using one of the notebooks placed in front of him, Mr. Yang continued on with what I supposed was an investigation. "Yesterday, on November 28 of the year 2006, a man named Takuo Shibuimaru mounted his motorcycle, with the intent of chasing after a girl with sky-blue hair, according to eye-witness reports." _Damn those eye-witnesses. I mean, come on, where the fuck were they when I actually needed them?! Tch… shallow jerks._ "Shortly after crossing the street, a large truck collided with Mr. Shibuimaru, resulting in his immediate death." Realigning the notebook papers (which I guess were out of correct order?), he laid the small police report down and facing me. Then, finally, like proper houseguests, the two removed their glasses. Mr. Yang had aqua-colored eyes, while Mr. Kanade sported grey ones.

The latter decided to do more than just stare expectantly at me. "We have recorded your statement saying that you were, in fact, at the scene of the crime. If it is alright by you, we would like you to write down everything that happened in as detailed a description as possible." Mr. Kanade slid a pen across the table.

My right hand moved to the heart around my neck. I began fiddling with it, just wrapping, unwrapping, and rewrapping multiple fingers around the metal object. Tilting my chin down a little bit, I let my hair become a curtain between me and them. Inconspicuously, my eyes shut and I attempted to remember all of the details.

But then something weird happened. My body seemed to become suspended… and my mouth moved of its own accord. I wasn't sure of what had come out of it.

Looking back up at the two coppers, I could see that it wasn't something usual.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Yang looked a little weird, his eyes and nose all scrunched up like he had heard someone singing of eating the moon.

"Uh… um…." It was quite embarrassing to have my mouth open and close like a broken toy, but my words returned eventually. "Oh, it's – it's nothing, really." A one-thousand dollar smile (okay, maybe ten bucks), and they were back to staring rocks.

My pen flew across the paper in front of me. It was funny how the report seemed to write itself, though it was mostly from a third perspective. _I _could have been the eye-witness, or some fan glued desperately to the TV, if I didn't know any better.

Once I finished, I laid the pen back down, all dramatic-movie style, and folded my legs up on my chair. "I-is that all you need?"

"Actually, just to confirm, we'll need to record you saying it as well. We'll ask the questions, and you only have to supply the answers." And out came the tape recorder. _Police must get quite the workout. His biceps are flexing quite nicely to retrieve the pen… multiply that by ten cases where a pen from a suitcase is needed, plus a bunch of other moves, and you've got yourself a one dollar way to shed a pound… or gain a pound of muscle… Hmm, if I threw a pen at him, would he catch it matrix style?_

"Let's begin," blondie said. "What were you doing last night?"

"I was just going out to buy clothes from Hot Topic."

"Can you describe your walk home for me, please?"

"I wasn't really paying attention to the things going on around me, and I was taking my usual route home. I was passing in front of a nerdy comic book store," _crap, do I know how to discriminate, even though that hot dude was there_, "when it happened. These men pulled up in front of me in motorcycles. One person also parked behind me, and another to the side. The only open space was to my left, which led onto the road.

"The leaders name was Takuo Shibuimaru, and he and his gang were harassing me, asking me to go with them and partake in some 'fun'. But I refused, which irritated them. When I turned around to try to sort of duck out of the encasement, Shibuimaru stuck a pole around my neck and pulled me towards him." I so didn't want to say the next part. It killed me too much, me and my pride, I mean.

"We-well, he told one of his lackeys to – to, um, strip me down right there." My cheeks flamed so brightly, I could have been Rudolph the red-cheeked chipmunk. "I-I struggled with them a bit, and then the leader, Shibuimaru, loosened his hold on the pipe a bit. I pushed it off my neck and ran to the side. I don't really remember what I was thinking besides, you know, getting away." My mad gestures I had started doing with the hand that wasn't stroking the heart had almost wacked one of the officers… Perhaps they deserved it for not removing their glasses. I had developed a thing against people who wore them but didn't need to.

"I was running on the crosswalk, perfectly legal, and I heard Takuo start the engine of his motorcycle behind me. I knew he was going to chase after me on it, and then I heard it following. He was getting closer when… th-the truck. I-it came out of nowhere. I heard the sound of him colliding with it, and then the wind behind me as it passed. It was extremely, _extremely_ close to me. If I had been half a centimeter back, I probably would have joined Takuo.

"When I got all the way to the other sidewalk, I sorta… threw up?" I asked the cops about my own bodily functions that night, as if they would know. "At least twice… and then I sorta came home and fell asleep against the door. Th-that was pretty much it, I guess."

Mr. Yang nodded, his black hair bobbing in a weird way. "I see. Thank you, ma'am. Now, did you happen to see who the driver of the truck was, or the license plate?"

I shook my head no. "I didn't see it at all. It was there one second, and gone the next before I had even turned around."

"Hmm… I see… now, tell me, did you see anyone else there?" _Light Yagami…. Light Yagami…_ "I mean the faces of the other bikers?" _Oh._

"I can't remember them too well. I'm sorry." They didn't know I was trying not to remember. Not because I was too weak to handle it (I'm as strong as an iron coffin, mind you.), but because it seemed as though I shouldn't be telling them this. I had a feeling that the red hand of fate would deal with them later.

"That's too bad." Mr. Yang voiced his disappointment. The chink sounds of metal grew slightly louder as my hands began to enter an unconscious state of fiddling. "In that case, may we ask you a few more personal questions?"

The left eye-lid on my face twitched minutely. _Why can't they just leave? Has it not been established that that is all I know?... besides the biker faces?_ "S-sure."

"First of all, we would like to ask your age."

"I'm seventeen."

"I see, so you'll be graduating high school next year, then?"

"No, I already did. I'm going to college this year." _Hopefully._

Mr. Yang looked up for a split second to ask the question that I was oh so familiar with: "And why would that be? Most students attend college after reaching the age of eighteen."

The thing was I didn't like anyone looking down on me, or thinking that I was a liar when I was trying my damn best to speak the truth, so this guy had just sparked my stubborn fire. "Yeah, I am."

"… would you care to answer my question?"

"Yeah. It was nothing great, I just skipped 1st grade. That was mostly 'cause there wasn't much to try to be good at." I answered him back defiantly.

"I see, so may we assume that you're quite capable of intelligently handling any information we give you." Mr. Kanade said with a straight face.

Fidgeting some, I meekly said, "I'm not the smartest kid in the world. There are others out there with much more talent than I have."

"I see." I heard a few scratches as their pens lowered to the notepads and wrote my words down. _What is the point of this anyhow? Why the need for info like this? Are they searching for something else, maybe?_

Either way, I couldn't afford to have a run-in (however small) with the poli, which meant that I was gonna have to slap a smile on and answer. If I had any suspicions or felt anything weird, I would have to file it away for later examination.

"We're sorry to ask you about that, but we're quite curious as to why such a young lady was out so late in the first place." _… these cops… do they know how to do their jobs? Was I completely off-base by assuming that there was a hidden motive behind asking my age and upcoming education status? Are they just striving to act stuck up? …. Well, news flash, it's your JOBS to protect people so they can go out late at night. Or did you think you could rise to your position by acting tough around everyone?_

Annoyed with how much my inner babble was making me realize that these dudes were total jerks, I answered tartly, "I was living, officer. Living my life. So sorry to have upset your quiet one in any way, but am I wrong to think that I was safe within the comforts of your district?" When met with their blank stares, I continued on. "I didn't realize that they let just _anyone_ join the force these days. Especially since things are getting so dangerous. What would be the point in having surly and _useless_ cops who only knew how to complain?" I clucked my tongue condescendingly. "Well, well. Looks like I might have to reconsider living here if that's how things are. I wouldn't want to exhaust you and your _jobs_ after all, good gentlemen."

… _Oh yeah, score. Just look at their faces… haha, yeah! ... yeah…. holy crap, what did I do? If they write down something about bad-sassing a cop, I could get in trouble, right? Right? Wait, I should probably brush up on the laws of this state or something. Jesus, what came over me? I know I'm stubborn… but not to the point of going the extra mile to fling it right back at someone so harshly… even if it was pretty cool…_

It looked like the two had also gotten past the obvious awesomeness of my speech as Mr. Kanade's face suddenly developed a venomous blush. It was none too delightful on his features, I assure you. Mr. Yang did not do the same, but he certainly didn't seem like the calm dude that had knocked on my door either.

"You- Do you know who you're talking to?" Mr. Kanade tried to shove/bark in my face. "We're respected officers of the state, and you have no rig-."

Mr. Yang raised a hand to cut off his partner in mid-sentence. "You are right Miss Notsuki, we should not have asked such an intrusive and disrespectful question. If you do not mind, may we please continue on with the report?"

"Yes." I had gotten a point… which meant I had gained some confidence in myself. Funny how those things worked: you did one gutsy thing and then you were afraid to act any other way in front of the people who had seen the act, not wanting to ruin the air of bravado.

And so the cops and I continued on: the two men recording all of my responses as I answered questions that started to seem more tactful and less judgmental. _Hmm… maybe I should mess around with the law a little bit more? At least, like this? … But then again, maybe not. I hear people like detectives don't get too much sleep. I would hate to end up like that._

So why did a shiver run down my back at the thought? Why were my actions suddenly warping themselves? I wasn't a strong person, at least not standing up to people all that much, so why was I suddenly feeling good about myself?

Another mumble escaped me, though I also didn't catch it that time. I wondered if the cops had slipped some sort of drug into me while I wasn't looking, therefore whacking out my body responses and making me confess to anything, and while on tape, too.

Glancing up, I saw that they were staring once more. "Miss Notsuki… are you mentally well?"

I blinked in shock. "Why, of course I am." I scoffed.

"… Never mind then." In no time they were done writing down their new observations. Then they were packing up, apparently done dealing with me.

Their bodies were 'muscularly' approaching the door, but I wrapped a hand around the biceps of Mr. Yang. "Would it be weird if I asked you what I said?"

He looked down at me… with those eyes that seemed real and 2D at the same time for some reason. In fact, everything seemed flat… at least, when I placed my hands on the metal heart it did.

"It was nothing you would need to worry about. You didn't say anything unordinary. Either way, we are under a solemn oath, so we will shield your identity from the media. Thank you for your hospitality." He was lying. I knew it. At least about the first part. I could sense it on some level, but I didn't really care to call him out on it. Besides, what could I have said that would be that bad? If I admitted to murdering the janitor of the Japanese Hollywood studio (if that even exists), then I might care a bit more. But I highly doubted they wouldn't have done anything if anything that crazy spun out of my mouth.

Slowly, I released him, my hand sliding first out of its grip on his arm, and then its grip on the end of his uniform shirt. They left after that, not glancing back once. _Only to be expected when dealing with an emotionally diverse person who jumps from timid to semi-fierce so quickly._

…

'_MR. KANADE AND MR. YANG'_

"Well, you don't see many like that anymore, eh?" The blonde man spoke in more informal tones to his comrade.

"You didn't help anything with your comment. That seemed to make her really aggravated. You should have remembered by now that people don't like being blamed like that." Kuna Yang rolled his eyes as they walked towards their police cruiser.

"Sorry 'bout that. Guess I'm still a newbie at heart, heh." Shino Kanade expressed more humor once he was sure he was out of hearing distance of the girl's apartment. "But what about… you know?"

"You're right; perhaps it is a bit strange, what she said. Stranger that she didn't seem to realize what she was saying."

"What was she saying? I only caught part of the first one."

"… her voice was lowered a few octaves like what she was saying was important, and first she said, 'It's close to beginning… everything is… be prepared, be prepared.' The second time it was something along the lines of 'Changes in character…. to fit a story right, only natural.' It all came out in a mumble though." Thinking back on it, Kuna Yang wasn't quite sure why he hadn't told her what he was saying. All he knew that something about looking into the metal of her necklace, even with his peripheral vision, made him feel like he would severely regret saying anything at all.

"That stutter was pretty annoying, too."

The raven-haired police looked over at his friend and comrade of four years. "What stutter?"

"…What do you mean? … I didn't say anything about a stutter."

…

It took a while for Ms. Kyara to arrive, but when she got there, she was some sort of train-wreck. Quite surprising, considering how awake she had sounded over the phone, but I didn't call attention to it. I was merely glad that she had shown up, even if it was after the cops had already left.

_Ring, ring._

The bell had rung again, which made me want to do the knock-knock joke thing again, but this time out of blank boredom. When I went to answer the door, a figure immediately grabbed hold of me. For a second, I had panicked, but then realized that no one with such a sculpted body would really waste a second glance on me, so it must have been my friendly care-taker, Ms. Kyara.

"I told you, I told you. You need to be more careful and stop acting like you can do everything in the world when you can't. What happens if your great survival plan fails you, huh? You can't just walk around doing whatever you want. These are bad times, and you can't just go out at night. Look at wh-."

"Alright, alright." I decided to interrupt. "I'm sorry; I should have listened to you. I was not thinking intelligently." _Not like that matters. When am I ever thinking intelligently?_ "I'm usually not, which is why I stuttered through even that college interview."

Ms. Kyara suddenly froze. "What do you mean, stuttered through? Why would someone like you have a problem with that? You've always been the one who spoke clearly. You're also pretty fearless and stubborn, which is probably why you went out last night even against my advice."

My own head whipped around to stare at her for a miniscule second. "What do you mean? I never said anything about having a stutter."

Light seemed to dawn in her eyes. "Oh, sorry. I guess I'm just imagining things coming out of the air again." She circled the air with her palm, an elegant gesture that she seemed to have down pat on certain occasions. Something only I would notice, weirdly.

"Anyways, I think you should pay more attention to the news if you're gonna be that carefree when going out." she scolded.

"I don't like watching the news, it's always got depressing stuff on there."

"Doesn't matter. I don't feel like losing one of my favorite charges." Ms. Kyara's eyes stared into mine with a small pout in them. She acted like such a child sometimes, but that was part of her charm.

"I don't like the sound of that: 'my charges'. It makes it sound like I'm an object to be agonized over as you unfairly slave away at all the tedious tasks of grooming me." I was glad she couldn't see me role my eyes, though I could feel her sense it.

"You don't need to get all sassy with me. You know what I meant." A wagged finger at my back. "Look, I just want you to pay more attention, okay?"

Feeling like I would be weak if I said something so light, I replied, "I understand. You should go home now, I think I want to rest a bit."

She gasped theatrically. "But, I have just graced you with my presence. How could I leave so soon?"

_There's that feeling again. Something's off… with everything… it's like it's all changing itself around or something. Either way, I need to be alone right now. Ms. Kyara would be a distraction with her antics… When did she have humorous antics anyways?... Or did she always act like that?_

"No, no, it's not that, it's just that I'm a bit tired right now." I replied nonchalantly, throwing in a fake yawn to seal the deal.

"… I guess you're right. Oh, I wouldn't want to keep you awake when you didn't even get that much of a sleep last night. Well, I'll drop by later." I turned around to watch her leave and wave my goodbye. I was met with the gesture signifying that 'I'm watching you.'

…

I… I was dreaming again. I'd fallen asleep after Ms. Kyara left. The dream that awaited me wasn't the chess game I had left off with.

_My head was pounding, as if I'd just hit the ground. I might have fallen from high up above if I didn't know any better. _

_When I looked around, it was the chessboard of the game from last time. But, there were no pieces, and there was no edge where it led onto larger squares. My entire surrounding was a monotonous black and white, not a single identifiable landmark in site._

"_You're back." came the breathy female of perhaps a few hours ago._

"_Yeah, this is my dream. _You're_ the one that shouldn't be here in the first place."_

_She chuckled at this. "I think you'll find it's the other way around… but other than that, I guess I get to explain a few more things to you."_

_I plopped down on my butt, oh-so-gracefully, and let out a humongous sigh. "Well, at least it doesn't smell so intoxicating in here." I commented._

_The voice made no remark._

"_Hey," I shouted at it, just realizing something, "I don't wanna call you just some voice all the time. What's your name?" Polite conversation was a great way to smooth over any small patches in our greeting quilt._

"… _It's *&#$^."_

_I stuck a finger in my ear, thinking maybe I had heard wrong. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"_

"_Why don't you pick a name for me? It doesn't seem like I've been given the ability to tell you my real one." Was that annoyance I sensed in her tone?_

"_Oh… well then, what about…Sasayaku?"_

_She contemplated that for a little while. "I guess Sasayaku will do."_

_Glad to have a name for her, I relaxed my torso and leaned back so that I was lying down. "So, Sasayaku, what brings you to my dreams?"_

_Silence._

_And then, "The real question is what's missing from you?"_

_Exhausted, not feeling entirely up for a bout of wits with Sasayaku, I remained quiet and waited for her to answer her own question._

"_You're not the you that you think you are. Don't you realize that?"_

"_Neither are you. I recall you talking all mysterious last night. You seem to be much more open now compared to then."_

"_That's because you aren't nearly as curious about the reality as you were before."_

"… _Please, come on. I haven't changed one bit." What an annoying little voice she was. Too bad I couldn't shut her off… not yet._

_I could feel this confused air starting to fill the room… "Perhaps the &%$#$% King wasn't as clear as I thought he'd been. He never told me about _this _happening in the process. I didn't think you'd undergo a personality change."_

"_I don't really know what you're talking about, but I think I'll just take a little nap here." And I fell asleep in my own dream… A dream within a dream, so they say. _

_Perhaps I should have paid attention to Sasayaku's words instead of brushing her off so easily._

* * *

**Thanks for reading ^^, and please show support by reviewing. Reviewing is ever so nice and the words that are said really make writing the next chapter much easier. 'Til then, bye guys :).**_  
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